Stuff-regulating apparatus for paper-machines



(No Model.)

W. C. EDWARDS. STUFF EEGULATING APPARATUS FOR PAPER MACHINES.

Patented Feb. 1o 1,891.

@mom/Lib@ www# llnTTnn STATES FnTnnT @rrrca IVILLIAM C. EDVARDS, OFIIOLYGKE, MASSACHUSETTS.

STUFF-RGULATING APPARATUS FR PPRICHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,985, dated February10, 1891.

Application filed November 12,1889. Serial No. 329,977. (No model.)

lle it known that I, IVILLIAM C. EDWARDS, of Holyoke, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Stuff-Regulating Apparatus for Paper-Machines; of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to apparatus for regulating the feed of the stufffrom which paper is made to the paper-machine, and it has for its objectto provide an apparatus for this purpose which, while being simple andinexpensive in construction, will so control the supply of stuff to themachine as to cause thel paper made on the 1n achine to be of a uniformweight throughout.

As is well known to persons skilled in the art to which my inventionrelates, the stuft passes from the beating-engines, in which it isthoroughly disintegrated, tothe stuff-chest, which chest is usually ofsufficient size to hold the contents of several engines. The stuff insaid chest is too thick to be delivered directly to the machine, and itis therefore pumped from the chest intoa stufl`-box, which is providedwith an outlet leading to the machine, and also with an overflow-outletleading back into the stuff-chest, by which the surplus of stuff pumpedinto said box is conducted back to said chest. At some point between thestuff-boX and the machine water is admitted tothe stuff to reduce it tothe proper consistency to form paper of the desired thicknessand weight.Inasm uch, however, as the stuff comes from the stuff-chest of varyingdegrees of density, it has hitherto been found to be impossible to soregulate its passage to the machine as to secure a uniform weight to thepaper. Various devices, comprising automatic gates, apparatus forweighing the stuff, the., have been devised with a view to securing thisimportant result, but so far as I am aware all have been failures. Ihave found by actual test that by admitting water to the stuff at apoint between the stuff-box proper and the gate which governs itspassage to the machine, by causing the stuff with the water to enter apeculiarlysnaped reservoir, and by governing the escape of the stufffrom said reservoir to the machine by means of a gate of peculiarconstruct-ion, the long-soughtfor result of a uniform weightof paper canbe attained.

My invention therefore consists in the apparatus embodying thesefeatures, hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are designated by likeletters in the several figures, Figure l is a vertical sectional view ofthe apparatus, taken upon line 0c x of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe apparatus. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the pump-box and pump. Fig'. 4is a detail view of the crankshaft by which the regulating-gate isoperated. Fg. 5 is a detail view of the float, which automaticallycontrols the gate governing the `passage leading from the box proper tothe well. Fig. 6 is a crosssection taken upon line y y of Fig. 5.

The letter designates the stuff-box; A, the overliow-compartmentthereof; a, the pipe leading into said box from the stuff-chest, and athe pipe leading from said overoW-com partment into the stuff-chest,which parts are or may be of the usual construction.. The mouth of pipea within box A is governed by the usual ball-valve a2 and guard d3 forsaid ball, and the walls d'1 a5 of the compartment A stand'at a rightangle to each other and are of subst-antially three-fourths the heightof the walls of the box, as is customary. At this point, however, thesimilarity between my apparatus and those heretofore used ceases, sinceit has been customary to so locate the gate which governs the passagefrom said box to the machine that the stuff enters the compartment Aover one of its walls merely-viz., wall CTL-while in my apparatus, aswill be presently explained, the stuff enters said compartment over bothof said walls.

In the practice of my invention I construct as parts of the stuff-box areservoir or well B and a conduit C, leading from the box proper to saidwell. The conduit C leads from the end of the box at which thecompartment A is located and from the upper portion of said end, so thatthe bottom of said conduit lies IOC slightly below the center' of thebox vertically, while the top thereof is slightly below the plane of thetop of the box, as shown in Fig. l. rlhe sides of said conduit formacontinuation of the side ai of compartment A and the adjacent'. sideot' box A, so that, as shown in Fig. 2, a continuous channel or canal isformed extending from a point parallel with wall a of compartment A toand into well B, the depth of. which channel fora portion of itsl lengthis that of box A and for the remainder of its length that of conduit C.

The well B is or may be open at the top, and has its sides convergingtoward the bottom thereof. Two of the opposite sides of said well-as,for example, the sides l) b-are 'disposed at such an angle to each otherthat if continued until they intersect each other the vpoint ofintersection would lie slightly to one side of the vertical center ofthewell, and

. one of said sides, as b, is deflected a short distance above thebottom thereof into a vertical plane, thus formin the outlet-passage b2at the bottom of the well, as shown in Fig. l. Mounted in ways in saidside b isa gate B', which I will herein call the primary gate;7 which isfree to move vertically in its ways, and which at itsupper end isprovided with a rack b3. In its closed position the lower end of saidgate abuts against the side b of the well, while its edges abut againstthe two adjacent sides of the latter, which sides are made vertical andparallel at that point to insure the perfect closure of theoutlet-passage b2 by said gate. Acrank-shaft bL is mounted in bearingsb5 at the upper end of the side b of the well, said shaft having at oneend the crank-arm b, by which it can be manually rotated, and carryingbetween its ends the pinion 117, lwhich meshes with the rack b3 on saidgate. By means of said shaft and pinion, therefore, the primary gate canbe raised and lowered at will to govern the escape of the stuff from thewell into a pipe D, leading from. the bottom of said well to a pumpboXE.

As it is ofthe utmost importance that means v for indicating the exactposition of the primary gate at all time be provided, and as it isdesirable that such indicating means shall beso located as to be readilyseen by the machine-tender or other person having charge thereof, Irigidly secure to the bearing lf", at the end of shaft D opposite tothat at which arm 1)" is located, a disk bs, havin g grad uations uponits inner side, as shown in Fig. l, and secure to shaft h* outside ofsaid disk an arm b", having a finger Z110, which overlaps theperipheryotf said disk and terminates in the plane of thegraduation-marks on the latter. By so arranging said parts that when thegate is entirely closed finger bw will stand at the point marked O onsaid disk it is obvious that said finger will at all times indicate theexact position of the gate, as well as the distance traveled by the gatewith each movement of shaft b". Said indicating means,

moreover, are located directly in front of the operator as he changesthe position of the gate.

As a means of still further facilitating accurate adjustment of theprimary gate,I connect to the outer end of arm b of the crankshaft agas-burner b and connect said burner with the gas-pipe 512 by means of apipe-arm bm, which connects with said pipe by means of the usuals\viveljoint,whereby said burner is permitted to move with iinger Z910aboutthe disk, and the marks on the latter are thus capable of beingseen clearly at all times.

A water-supply pipe c communicates with conduit C at a pointsubstantially midway between the well and box A, said pipe containing ahan d-valve c', by means of which the passage of water therethrough canbe governed, and I prefer to provide said pipe c with a branch pipe c2,extending around the fou r sides of well B at the top of the latter,said branch pipe being provided with an independent valve, as shown, andbeing perforated upon its lower side, whereby jets of water will bedirected therefrom against the inner snrface of the sides of said well,for a purpose which will presently appear.

As before stated, pipe D leads from the bottom of well B to a pump-boxE, and a pump F forces the stuff from said box to the paper-machinethrough a pipe f; also, communicating with said pump-box is a conduitl,leading from the save all of the papermachine-a receptacle for thesurplus water which passes to the machine with the stuff, whereby saidsurplus water is conveyed back into said pump-box, to be again pumped tothe machine with the pulp in the usual manner. It will thus be observedthat both ends of pipe D are etfectually sealed by the commingled waterandLstu ff in well B and pumpbox E, respectively, so that air isexcluded from said pipe, which fact greatly facilitates a steady anduninterrupted flow of the stuff through said pipe, and such constructionforms an important feature of my invention.

The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows: Thepump which forces the stuff from the stuff-chest into box A beingstarted, the stuff will rise within said box until it reaches the levelof the bottom of conduit C, through which it will pass to well B,primary gate B being closed, and will continue to rise until it reachesthe level of the top of compartment A, when the overiiow into saidcompartment and back into the stuff-chest will begin. Valve c of pipe cbeing' now opened, a constant and uniform supply of water is admitted toand commingled with the thickened stuff in conduit C and well B. Theoperator then opens the primary valve or gate B', thereby permitting thestuff to flow through pipe D to pump-box E, whence pump F forces it tothe machine. Primary gate B is opened more and more until the web ofpaper made on the machine is of the desired weight, when said gate islocked in IOO IIO

position. I have shown as one form of means for thus locking said gate aset-screw S, connecting the two halves of one of the bearings h5 ofshaft b4, whereby the two parts of said bearing can be clamped tightlyupon said shaft to prevent movement thereof; but-other means forsecuringA the same resultcan be employed, if desired. The thickenedstuff in box A being free to overflow into compartment A upon two sidesof the latter and the water being admitted to the stuff-in conduit C,the water will be prevented by the stuff in the box proper from backingup into the latter, and will be caused to pass into well I3 and throughgate Bin a uniform stream, and said gate heilig opened sufliciently topermit the passage of such unvarying stream of water and the requisitequantity of stuff to make the paper of the desired weight it is obviousthat the web of paper made on the machine will be of a uniform weight solong as these conditions continue to exist. Again, it will be observedthat by making well B of the par ticular shape shown and by arrangingthe primary gate in connection therewith, as shown, the pressure exertedby the entire quantity of stuff within the well is constantly directedupon the narrow passage way between the lower end of the gate and theadjacentwall of the well, whereby a steadyand uniform iiow of the stuffthrough said passage-way is assured. Moreover, the walls of the well andthe gate itself being arranged at an angle to the direction of movementof the 4stuff through the well, there are no abrupt shoulders orsurfaces upon which the stuff can lodge to form into lumps and thus clogthe passage-way and interrupt. the uniform iiow of the stuif. Thisresult is still further enhanced by the jets of water which issue frompipe c2 at the upper end of each of the four sides of the well, whicheifectually prevent any lodgment of the particles of stuff upon saidsides.

Disk bs will preferably have marked thereon the position to be occupiedby the finger blo to cause the paper to be of any desired number ofpounds to the ream in weight, which ma-rks can be located thereon withaccuracy after the machine has once been set in operation. t

As before stated, the thickened mass of stuit' in box A, by reason ofits ability to freely overflow into compartment A upon two sides of thelatter, will prevent the water entering the conduit through pipe c frombacking up into said box; but in order to still further assure thisresult I prefer to locate a gate g, which I will herein call thesecondary gate,77 at the point where conduit C communicates with thebox. Said gate is mounted in vertical Ways, as shown, and by beingraised and lowered governs the size of the passage-way between the boxand well I3, and when partially opened effectually prevents the waterfrom entering the boK proper from the con-V duit.

As is well known, the periodic impulses given to the body of stuifwithin the stuft'- box by the strokes of the pump which forces the stufffrom the stuff-chest into said box have a tendency to interrupt thesteady and even iiow of the stuff to the machine and to cause an unevenweight in the paper, and in order to counteract this tendency entirely,although it is greatly lessened by the use of conduit C and well B, Iprefer to provide means for automatically imparting to the secondarygate g a slight downward movement with each upward movement of the bodyof stuff within the box, and thereby check any increase in the quantityof 'stuff delivered to the machine which might otherwise be caused. Themeans herein shown for thus automatically operating said gate are asfollows: Upon a bridge-piece g, eX- tending across the top of box A, issupported a rock-shaft g2, mounted in bearings g3, projecting upwardlyfrom said bridge-piece, .and supported at its center upon saidrock-shaft is a lever G, having the weights g4 adjustably securedthereon upon each side of its fulcrum, whereby said lever can be evenlybalanced upon said fulcrnm. A rod g5 is detachably connected at itsupper erd to said lever by means of a collar embraf ing the end of thelatter, and at its lower end is adjustably connected to gate g by meansof a thimble on the latter and two set-nuts on the rod, as shown,whereby said gate can be adjusted to different heights on the rod. Atits opposite end the lever G is provided with a slot to receive a stemg, projecting upwardly from and pivotally secured to a float Q7, saidstem being provided with holes to receive a pin extending across theslot in said lever, as shown, to enable the float to be adjusted todifferent heights relatively to the lever. The float Q7 rests upon thetop of the body of stuif within-the box, and is preferably made in theform shown in Figs' and t-that 'is to say, of a shell forming aninclosed airchamber having its bottom concaved transversely, and beingof a slightly-increasing depth from one end to the other. The iioat madein this form is n ot only very buoyant, but is adapted to rest evenlyupon the surface of the stuff, and by its concaved bottom to give thestuff an initial movement in the direction of conduit C, and thusfacilitate a steady How of the stuff into and through the latter. Vithsaid parts arranged as described every upheaval of the stuff within theboxV by the strokes of the supply-pump will cause a corresponding upwardmovement of the float, and through lever G a corresponding downwardmovement will be given to gate g, which gate by slightly contracting theopening between the box and conduit C effectually counteracts thetendency of such upheaval of the stuff to increase the quantity of stuffpassing through said opening.

Inasmuch as it may be desirable in some instances to automaticallycontrol the supply IOC ITO

of water in accordance with the consistency of the stu if pumped intothe stuff-box, I have herein shown means for securing such result, thesame consisting of a lever II, pivoted at its center upon a hub 7L uponthe side of box A, said lever at its lower end being connected to thestein 7L of a valve 7a2 in the water-supply pipec, and at its upper endbeing connected by a link h3 to an arm g8, rigidly secured to rock-shaftg2. The connection between valve-stem h and said lever II will be suchthat when the stuff is of a normal consistency valve h2 will be openedsufiiciently to permit the proper quantityof water to pass through pipec into conduit C, and it will be obvious that when the stuff increasesin density or becomes thicker it will cause an upward movement to floatgl, which movement of said float will, through lever G, rock-shaft g2,arm g8, link h3, and lever I-I, still further open vvalve h2 and admitan additional quantity of water to the stuff, and that when the stuffdecreases in density or becomes thinner the oat will be depressed, andwill through the same means partially close valve h2, thus diminishingthe quantity of water supplied. Said means are thus adapted toautomatically regulate the water-supply according to thevarying'rconsistency of the stuff; but under all ordinary conditions ofthe stuffv the apparatus constructed and operating as hereinbeforedescribed will secure a steady and uniform flow of the stuff to themachine without the use of said automatic feature.

I desire to call particular attention to the point relatively to thestuff-box proper at which the water is admitted to the stuff, to thepeculiar shape of well I3, and to the angle at which the primary gate isset relatively to the direction of movement of the stuff through thepassage at the bottom of the Well, since to these features ofconstruction is largely due the fact that by the use of the apparatusdescribed I am able to secure a uniform weight to the paper made on themachine.`

The apparatus herein described is composed of few parts and is notliable to `get ont of working order, as would be the case with a morecomplicated construction.

It is obvious that modifications in the details of construction can bemade without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a stu iff-regulating apparatus for papermachines, the combination,with the stuff-box having the usual inlet and overflow-outlet for thestuff, of a well having converging sides and having at the bottomthereof an outletpassage and a gate for closing said passage, a conduitleading from said box to said well, and a water-'supply pipe leadinginto said conduit, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. In a st nl'f-regulatin g apparatus for papermachines, thecombination, with the stuff-box having at one end thereof anoverflow-compartment, two of the sides of which are ex posed to thepassage of the stu ff thereover, of a well the sides of which convergetoward an outlet-passage at the bottom thereof, a gate movable in waysupon one of the sides of said well for closing said passage at thebottom of the latter, and a conduit leading from the end of said boxatwhich said overiiow-compartment is located into said well, arrangedand operating substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a stuff-regulatin g apparatus for papermachines, the combination,with the stuff-box having the usual stu ff-inlet opening and having inone corner thereof an overliow-compartment, of a Well the sides of whichtaper toward the bottom thereof and two of the opposite sides of whichstand at such an angle to each other that the vertical plane of theirintersecting point will lie at one side of the center of said well, agate movable in a plane parallel with one of said oppositely-locatedsides of the well for governing the outletpassage from the latter, and aconduit leading from said boX to said Well, said conduit communicatingwith the box at a point above the bottom of the latter and between saidoverow-compartment and the adjacent side of said box, arranged andoperating substantially as set forth.

4. In a stuff-regulating apparatus for papermachines, the combination,with the stuit-box, of a well located between said box and thepaper-machine, said Well having its sides tapering toward the bottomthereof, a gate mounted in ways upon one of the sides of said well forclosing the outlet-passage from the latter, a rack and pinion foroperating said gate, an indicator operatively connected to said rack andpinion forindicatingthe movement thereof, a conduit connecting said wellwith said stuff-box, and a Water-supply pipe communicating with saidconduit, arranged and operating substantially as described.

5. In a stuff-regulatin g apparatus for papermachines, thecombination,with the stuff-box, of a well the sides of which tapertoward the bottom thereof, where they terminate in an outlet-passagefrom said well,a primary gate movable in a plane parallel with one ofthe sides of said well for closing said outlet-passage, a conduitleading from said stuff-box to said well, and a secondary gate forclosing the entrance to said conduit,substantially as and for thepurpose described.

(i. The combination,with stuff-box A, having overflow-compartment A', ofwellvP, having tapering sides and outlet-passage b2 at the bottomthereof, gate B for closing said passage, conduit C, connecting saidstuffbox with said well, water-supply pipe c, communieating with saidconduit, and branch pipe c2, communicating with said well at or near thetop thereof, substantially as described.

7. The combination,with Well B,havingits sides tapering toward thebottom thereof and havingan outlet-passage at said bottom, of gate B,mounted in ways upon one of the sides of said well and carrying` at itsupper end the rack ifi, shaft h, mounted in bearings on said well andcarrying pinion B7, which meshes with said rack, said shaft having atone end thereof crank-arm h" and atits opposite end arm b, carryingfinger hw, and grad uated disk Zr, secured to one of the bearings ofsaid shaft in position to haveits periphery overlapped by said fingerhm, arranged and operatingsubstantially as set forth.

S. The combination, with well B, gate B', carrying rack h3, shaft h4.carrying pinion h7 and indicating arm and finger h" h1, and graduateddisk h5, of gas-pipel h1?, having branch pipe hm connected thereto bymeans of a swivel-joint and in the plane of the axis of said shaft h",said branch pipe at its outer end being connected to the outer end ofarm h" and carrying burner b, arranged and operating' substantially asdescribed, whereby said burner will be caused to followthemovey ments ofsaid indicating-finger.

0. The combination, with stuff-box A, conduit C, and well B, havingtapering sides, as described, of pum p-box E, having conduit Ecommunicating therewith at or near the top thereof, pump F, and pipe D,leading from said well at the bottom of the latter into said pump-box ator near the bottom of the same, substantially as set forth, whereby bothends of said pipe will be sealed by the stuff in said well andpump-box', respectively.

10. The combination, with stuff-box A, well B, having primary gate B',and conduit C, leading from said box to said well, of secondary gate g,mounted in vertical ways and governing the entrance to said conduit,lever G, mounted upon a horizontal axis and being adjustably connectedat one end to said secondary gate, float gi, constructed to rest uponthe surface of the stuff within said box, said float having stem g, andmeans for adjustably connectin g said stem to the opposite end of saidlever, substantially as'and for the purpose described.

ll. The combination, with stuff-box A, having gate g at one end thereofand having bridge-piece g extending across the top thereof, of bearingsg3, supported upon said bridgepiece, shaft g2, journaled in saidbearings, lever G, mounted at its center upon said shaft and havingweights g4 adjustably mounted thereon, rod (f, detachably secured tosaid lever at one end of the latter and at its opposite end heiligadjustably connected to said gate g, tloat Q7, consisting ot' a hollowshell and having the bottom thereof concaved, as

described, and stem g, pivotally secured to stem of said valve 71?, andlink h3, connect-` ing the upper end of said lever to said arm g8 ofshaft g2, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

13. The combination, with stuff-box A, having inlet-pipe a communicatingtherewith, and having at one end thereof overiow-compartment A', withpipe a', leading from the latter, of well B, having its sides taperingtoward the bottom thereof, and having gate B mounted in ways upon one ofsaid sides, pump-box E, pipe D, leading from the bottom of said well toand into said pump-box, and conduit C, leading from said stuff-box atthe end of the latter at which said compartment A is located into saidwell, arranged and operating substantially as described.

il. rlhe combination, with stuff-box A, of well B, having the sides h hthereof disposed at such an angle to each other that if continued saidsides would intersect each other at one side of the vertical center ofsaid well, and having said side h deliected near the bottom thereof to avertical plane, whereby outlet-passage h2 is formed, gate B', mounted inways upon said side h, and movable in a plane parallel with the upperportion of the lat-ter, and conduit C, connecting said well with saidstuff-box, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

, WILLIAM C. EDWARDS. Witnesses:

XV. I-I. CHAPMAN,

J. E. CHAPMAN.

IOO

